ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
Cabinet approves modifications in Central Sector Scheme of financing facility under ‘Agriculture Infrastructure Fund’
The Union Cabinet chaired by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today gave its approval to the following modifications in Central Sector Scheme of Financing Facility under ‘Agriculture Infrastructure Fund’:
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- Eligibility has now been extended to State Agencies/APMCs, National & State Federations of Cooperatives, Federations of Farmers Producers Organizations  and Federations of Self Help Groups .
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- At present Interest subvention for a loan upto Rs. 2 crore in one location is eligible under the scheme. In case, one eligible entity puts up projects in different locations then all such projects will be now be eligible for interest subvention for loan upto Rs. 2 crore. However, for a private sector entity there will be a limit of a maximum of 25 such projects. This limitation of 25 projects will not be applicable to state agencies, national and state federations of cooperatives, federations of FPOs and federation of SHGs. Location will mean physical boundary of a village or town having a distinct LGD  code. Each of such projects should be in a location having a separate LGD code.
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- For APMCs, interest subvention for a loan upto Rs. 2 crore will be provided for each project of different infrastructure types e.g. cold storage, sorting, grading and assaying units, silos, et within the same market yard.
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- The power has been delegated to Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare to make necessary changes with regard to addition or deletion of beneficiary in such a manner so that basic spirit of the scheme is not altere
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- The period of financial facility has been extended from 4 to 6 years upto 2025-26 and overall period of the scheme has been extended from 10 to 13 upto 2032-33.
The modifications in the Scheme will help to achieve a multiplier effect in generating investments while ensuring that the benefits reach small and marginal farmers. APMC markets are setup to provide market linkages and create an ecosystem of post-harvest public infrastructure open to all farmers.
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
MoS  Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurates a workshop on International Women’s Day
New vistas are opening up for Women in Narendra Modi Government: Dr Singh
Women are excelling in Administration, Forces, Defence and Space: Dr Jitendra Singh
Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region , Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space Dr Jitendra Singh today said that New Vistas are opening up for Women under Shri Narendra Modi Government, which has a special preference and sensitivity for women folk in India. Addressing a workshop on International Women’s Day organized by DoPT here, Dr Singh said that after a long gap, we have first generation women professionals in India and similarly in the field of Entrepreneurship, they are scaling new heights. He said, this is not only a huge departure from the past, but also great tributes to Women Empowerment.
Expressing happiness over the presence of huge number of women officers and officials in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the huge galaxy of women talent is not only part of the Administrative Department for creating reforms, but in creating reforms pertaining to women. He pointed out that an order in the pensions department was modified recently for divorced daughters and now even if the divorce matter is pending, the women will be entitled for family pension. He said that India has come full circle in women empowerment, as they are now seeking opportunities and excelling in administrative jobs and even in forces and defence and space, which were earlier considered as taboos. Earlier, women used to opt for teaching and social welfare jobs only, he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh also gave away awards to the best performers of the competitive events held on the occasion.
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VG/SNC
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Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Dr. Jitendra Singh says, in last two years about 696 issues pertaining to big ticket projects have been resolved through the mechanism of PRAGATI and Project Monitoring Group .
Union Minister of State  Science & Technology; Minister of State  Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, in last two years about 696 issues pertaining to big ticket projects have been resolved through the mechanism of PRAGATI and Project Monitoring Group .
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today, Dr Jitendra Singh said, PRAGATI  is an ICT based multi-purpose and multi-modal platform aims at reviewing important schemes/ programmes /projects of the Government of India as well as the projects flagged by the State Governments for timely implementation and desired outcome.
The Minister informed that all stakeholders from Central and State Governments participate in PRAGATI meetings. This platform has improved coordination among the stakeholders and helped better monitoring and faster implementation of projects by resolving issues through discussions and exchange of information among the stakeholders.
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SNC/RR
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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
COVID-19 UPDATE
131.99 cr vaccine doses have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive
India's Active caseload currently stands at 93,277; lowest in 559 days
Active cases account for less than 1% of total cases, currently at 0.27%; Lowest since March 2020
Recovery Rate currently at 98.36%; Highest since March 2020
9,265 recoveries in the last 24 hours increases Total Recoveries to 3,41,14,331
7,992 new cases in the last 24 hours
Daily positivity rate  less than 2% for last 68 days
Weekly Positivity Rate  less than 1% for last 27 days
65.46 cr Total Tests conducted so far
Ministry of Defence
Army Commanders Conference: 27 – 29 May 2020
The Army Commanders' Conference, an apex level biannual event which facilitates conceptual level deliberations culminating in important policy decisions scheduled for April 2020 and postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic is being organised in two phases. First phase of the Conference was conducted at South Block, New Delhi from 27 to 29 May 2020.
Over three days, the Indian Army’s apex leadership deliberated upon various aspects related to existing and developing security challenges. In additions, human resource management issues, studies pertaining to ammunition management, merger of co-located training establishments and merger of Military Training Directorate with HQ Army Training Command were also discussed. The Board of Governor meetings of the Army Welfare Housing Origination  and Army Welfare Education Society  were also organised during the event.
The second phase of the conference scheduled from 24 to 27 June 2020 will include interactive sessions with DMA & DoD, discussions on agenda sponsored by Command Headquarters and deliberations on ongoing studies of logistics and administrative issues. The Hon’ble Raksha Mantri and CDS are also likely to address the conference during this phase.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Update on COVID-19 Vaccine Availability in States/UTs
More than 193.53 Crore vaccine doses provided to States/UTs
More than 16.67 Crore balance and unutilized vaccine doses still available with States/UTs
The Union Government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country. The nationwide COVID 19 vaccination started on 16th January 2021. The new phase of universalization of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from 21st June 2021. The vaccination drive has been ramped up through availability of more vaccines, advance visibility of vaccine availability to States and UTs for enabling better planning by them, and streamlining the vaccine supply chain.
As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, Government of India has been supporting the States and UTs by providing them COVID Vaccines free of cost. In the new phase of the universalization of the COVID19 vaccination drive, the Union Government will procure and supply  75% of the vaccines being produced by the vaccine manufacturers in the country to States and UTs.
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VACCINE DOSES
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SUPPLIED
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1,93,53,58,865
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BALANCE AVAILABLE
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16,67,39,155
More than 193.53 crore  vaccine doses have been provided to States/UTs so far through Govt. of India  and through direct state procurement category.
More than 16.67 Cr  balance and unutilized COVID Vaccine doses are still available with the States/UTs to be administered.
Ministry of Steel
Steel Minister Shri Ram Chandra Prasad Singh assures: Secondary Steel Industry's issues are taken up on appropriate level
Ministry of Steel had an interactive session with steel companies based in Uttarakhand. The Union Minister of Steel, Shri Ram Chandra Prasad Singh chaired the Interactive Session on Opportunities and Challenges of Secondary Steel Industries in Haridwar. The Minister interacted with the members of the Uttarakhand Steel Association and discussed opportunities and challenges in secondary steel industries and assured them that issues being faced by Steel Industry will be taken up at the appropriate level.
Shri Ram Chandra Prasad Singh also explained how Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi is ensuring a business-friendly environment and simplification of the legal framework. Concerns of the industry were put forward by representatives from the companies which included a better environment for the industry, especially on finance, logistics, environment, and support for the small-scale industries in the sector. The Interactive Session which saw the participation of officials of steel companies based in Uttarakhand.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
More than 203.03 Crore vaccine doses provided to States/UTs
More than 3.70 Crore balance and unutilized vaccine doses still available with States/UTs
New Delhi, 18th September, 2022
The Union Government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country. The nationwide COVID 19 vaccination started on 16th January 2021. The new phase of universalization of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from 21st June 2021. The vaccination drive has been ramped up through availability of more vaccines, advance visibility of vaccine availability to States and UTs for enabling better planning by them, and streamlining the vaccine supply chain.
As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, Government of India has been supporting the States and UTs by providing them COVID Vaccines free of cost. In the new phase of the universalization of the COVID19 vaccination drive, the Union Government will procure and supply  75% of the vaccines being produced by the vaccine manufacturers in the country to States and UTs.
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VACCINE DOSES
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SUPPLIED
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2,03,03,52,325
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BALANCE AVAILABLE
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3,70,12,740
More than 203.03 crore  vaccine doses have been provided to States/UTs so far through Govt. of India  and through direct state procurement category.
More than 3.70 Cr  balance and unutilized COVID Vaccine doses $are still available with the States/UTs to be administered.
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution
Misleading Advertisements
The Department of Consumer Affairs has launched a portal “Grievance against Misleading Advertisement ” where a consumer can lodge a complaint against a misleading advertisement. From March, 2015 till date 4438 complaints have been received through this portal. The Advertising Standards Council of India  processes the complaints received through this portal as per ASCI Code, based on an MoU signed between the Department and the ASCI. If a complaint is upheld, ASCI takes up the complaint with the company/agency concerned either for withdrawal or modification of the advertisement. In case of non-compliance of its orders, ASCI forwards the complaints to the regulators concerned for taking appropriate action.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, which examined the Consumer Protection Bill, 2015, already introduced in Parliament, has recommended for stringent provisions to tackle misleading advertisement, as well as to fix liability on endorsers/celebrities. The recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee are under consideration of the Government.
This information was given by Shri C. R. Chaudhary, the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, today.
Ministry of Science & Technology
WORKSHOP ON SKILL DEVELOPMENT-2019
Kolkata, September 26, 2019
A ‘Workshop on Skill Development’ was organized by the Skill and Innovation Promotion Group, CSIR-CMERI, Durgapur, on 25th September 2019. The Workshop was inaugurated by Prof.  Harish Hirani, Director, CSIR-CMERI, Durgapur. The Workshop was attended by Faculties from 39 colleges. During the Workshop elaborate presentations were given on the activities of the AdMAC, C-CAD, Solar PV, Metrology, NDT, CoEFM, IT and Water Purification Technologies. The presentations were followed by a highly-engaging Interactive session between the Faculties and the Scientists of CSIR-CMERI.
Prof.  Harish Hirani, Director, CSIR-CMERI, Durgapurin his Welcome Address stated that this is a ‘Golden Opportunity to provide Hope for the Younger Generation’ as the objective of Skill Development Workshops like these is to boost the employability potential of the massive demographic potential that our Nation possesses. 65% of Jobs will be created when the Skill Sets in the Youth are catalyzed.
We need to develop a Vibrant Ecosystem which will be attuned to the varying dynamics of the Industry. Teachers have the humongous responsibility as Leaders of Skill Development and harness the potential of the Youth, for National Development. Dr. Hiranialso urged the Young Scientists to develop products with innovative features at par with the latest Industrial Standards. Correlation and Codependence in research activities always delivers better results. Thus, Interdisciplinary approach must be promoted. Dr. Hirani concluded the program by stating that the Future of the Nation is ‘Skill Development’ and we should leave no stone unturned to achieve the objective of the Skill India Mission of the Government of India.Dr. Hirani also urged all the participating faculties to visit different labs of the Institute and have exposure to the state-of-the-art facilities available in the Institute.
Ministry of Defence
Curtain Raiser : Army Technology Seminar
ARTECH Seminar was launched in 2016 as part of overall vision of ‘Make in India’ of Hon’ble Prime Minister and is conducted every year as part of events leading to Army Day celebrations. The seminar is the flagship event of Indian Army which sets the agenda for focus areas of harvesting indigenous capabilities in the Defence sector.
ARTECH platform provides an opportunity to practitioners of military operations, policy makers in Ministry of Defence, industry and academia to put forth their contemporary Defence related capabilities. It is also a forum for innovators in uniform to showcase their products and offer these to industry to refine & productionise.
The fifth edition of ARTECH is being organised by Indian Army on ‘Technologies for Non Contact Warfare’ which will be organised on 23 December 2019 at Manekshaw Centre, Delhi Cantonment.
Speakers from varied fields of industry, academia, think tanks, subject matter experts, users and policy makers have been invited to address the seminar. ARTECH will be of immense value with participation by industry leaders, individual innovators, startups and academicians.
There is a select equipment display planned during the seminar by industry, academia, innovators in uniform and startups, DRDO and DPSUs.
Note : programme of work is enclosed for reference
Col Aman Anand
PRO 
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Ministry of Jal Shakti
Public Toilets Under SBM-G
State/UT-wise number of Community Sanitary Complexes  reported by the States/UTs on the online Integrated Management Information System  of Swachh Bharat Mission  [SBM] are given at Annexure-1. Swachh Bharat Mission  provides that CSCs constructed under the programme shall have separate facilities for men and women.
State/UT-wise number of CSCs constructed during the last three years under SBM  as reported by the States/UTs on the IMIS are given at Annexure-2.
The main goal under SBM  was to make all the rural areas of the country Open Defecation Free  by providing access to toilets to all the rural households. All the villages have already declared themselves ODF as on 2nd October, 2019. However, construction of household latrines is a continuous process as new households regularly comes up. As SBM  is a demand driven scheme, fixed targets for construction of household latrines cannot be set under the programme. Financial incentive for construction of individual household latrine is provided to the eligible beneficiaries when the demand arises. Construction of toilets in schools and anganwadis is not covered under SBM ; these are provided under the relevant programmes of the concerned ministries, namely, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Women and Child Development respectively.
This Information was given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Dr. Jitendra Singh interacts with members of Indian Women’s Press Corps 
The Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region , Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh today interacted with the members of Indian Women’s Press Corps here today.
While interacting with the women journalists, who are also the members of the Indian Women’s Press Corps, Dr Jitendra Singh said that there were apprehension emerging in some sections of the society and media that there was a move by Shri Narendra Modi Government to dilute or curtail the Right To Information  Act. He said that this apprehension is baseless, but on the contrary, he added that the Government, has worked on the principle of increasing citizen participation in governance, with more accountability and transparency in the last four years.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, it was during this Government that all the 11 vacancies of the Central Information Commission were sought to be filled by the Government whereas, during the earlier times, there had been occasions when sometimes, Information Commission was functioning with just three or four members. Not only this, he said, the pendency of the RTI applications has been tremendously brought down and the time of disposal has also been curtailed. The Minister said that in the last four years, most of the public authorities numbering around 2000, have been brought under the purview of the RTI Act, which was not so earlier.
On the development of North East region, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that the present Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi gave momentum to development of NER and the road, rail and air-connectivity has expanded in the region. He said, the Prime Minister has undertaken nearly 30 visits to the region and due priority has been given to the development of the NER. He said this government has set up a separate ‘NITI Forum for North-East’ to look after the policy matters related to the region. He said that the focus has not only been bringing North East closer to the rest of country, but also to bring rest of India closer to the North East.
Answering a question on the Prevention of Corruption  Act 2018, he said that the Government has a policy of ‘zero tolerance’ towards corruption and with the passing of this Bill the prevailing corrupt practices can be curtailed.
On the issue of lateral entry into the bureaucracy, he said that this practice has been there even in the past and the Government has tried to institutionalize it and streamline it, so that the process is more objective and will bring specialists into the system.
Ministry of Defence
Proposals of 16 States/UTs & six Ministries/Departments shortlisted for participation in Republic Day Parade 2020
There is a well-established system for selection of tableaux for participation in the Republic Day Parade as per which Ministry of Defence invites proposals for tableau from all States/UTs and Central Ministries/Departments.
The tableaux proposals received from various States/UTs and Central Ministries/Departments are evaluated in a series of meetings of the Expert Committee comprising of eminent persons in the field of art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture, choreography etc. The Expert Committee examines the proposals on the basis of theme, concept, design and its visual impact before making its recommendations. Due to time constraints arising out of overall duration of the parade, only a limited number of tableaux can be shortlisted for participation in the parade. The selection process in vogue, leads to participation of the best tableaux in the parade.
For Republic Day Parade 2020, a total of 56 tableaux proposals  were received. Out of these, 22 proposals, comprising of 16 States/UTs and 6 Ministries/Departments, have finally been shortlisted for participation in the Republic Day Parade 2020 after a series of five meetings.
The tableau proposal of Govt. of West Bengal was examined by the Expert Committee in two rounds of meetings. The tableau proposal of Govt. of West Bengal was not taken forward for further consideration by the Expert Committee after deliberations in the second meeting. It is pertinent to mention here that the tableau of Govt. of West Bengal was shortlisted for participation in Republic Day Parade 2019 as an outcome of the same process.
ABB/SS/Nampi/DK/Savvy/ADA
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Ministry of Defence
INDIAN ARMY CONTINGENT LEAVES FOR EXERCISE BRIGHT STAR- 23 BEING HELD IN EGYPT
Indian Army contingent comprising of 137 personnel departed for “Exercise BRIGHT STAR- 23” scheduled to be conducted from 31 August to 14 September 2023 at Mohammed Naguib Military Base in Egypt. It is a multinational tri-services joint military exercise that will be led by US CENTCOM and Egyptian Army. It was initially conceptualized as a bilateral biennial training exercise between the US and Egypt during the Camp David Accord of 1977. The first edition of the Exercise was conducted in the year 1980 in Egypt. From 1995 onwards the Exercise was expanded for participation by other nations. The previous Exercise BRIGHT STAR was conducted in the year 2021 wherein forces of 21 countries had participated.
This year 34 countries will participate in Exercise BRIGHT STAR- 23. It will be the largest ever joint military exercise in Middle East & North Africa region. This is for the first time that Indian Armed Forces are participating in Exercise BRIGHT STAR with a total strength of 549 personnel. The Indian Army is being represented by a contingent from 23 JAT Battalion.
The Exercise will comprise of a large number of training activities focused on combating emerging unconventional threats and enhancing regional partnerships amongst participating nations aimed at maintaining world peace. In addition to the various field and situational training exercises, Exercise BRIGHT STAR- 23 will also include a combined arms live firing exercise based on a tactical setting. A panel discussion on contemporary topics is also planned to be conducted on Cyber Security for which the Indian Armed Forces are the lead force.
Exercise BRIGHT STAR- 23 will provide a unique opportunity to Indian Army to share best practices and experiences with other armies besides enhancing the defence cooperation. Indian Army looks forward to an enriching professional experience from the Exercise.